//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 - Heart to Heart // Story: There but for the grace of our gods // by Valtyrian //------------------------------// Kohaku groaned and rubbed his nose bridge slowly. He heard the clop of Pearl’s hooves dash back and forth from the kitchen to the sofa he was on. This had been going on for an hour since she returned from Twilight’s. Leaning back, he pushed back into yet another pillow. How many had that made now? Any more and he felt as if he would be leaning forward. Even the small animals he was caring for had left the room, tired of all the annoying traveling back and forth. But hearing yet another tray being set up and yet another trip back from the kitchen caused him to half growl. “Enough!” Looking up at Pearl he sighed before taking the pillows and made a neat stack on the ground, folding up the blanket and setting it next to the pillows. “Just. Enough. This is way too much.” “I’m sorry, I just feel bad for what I did.” Pearl sighed and sat down. “Look, I’m doing fine. My voice is back to normal. And I’m beginning to see out of both eye sockets again.” Shifting Kohaku sat up and patted the seat next to him. “It was a solid hit, one my Pearl would have been happy with.” Chuckling Pearl sat up next to him before blinking. “Your Pearl? You mean you already knew I wasn’t your Pearl?” “Well thinking back on it, it was rather obvious. I guess I just let my heart leap ahead of my mind. Not uncommon when you're in love.” Taking a few deep breaths. Kohaku leaned back. “It wasn’t until I felt that leg of yours connect that I was certain you weren’t mine.” “That’s what clued you in?” Pearl smirked and quirked an eyebrow. “Well, Pearl and I have an unspoken rule. She’s free to slap, kick, or use me as a punching bag anytime she feels I need it. So long as she never hits me between the legs.” Taking a drink from the latest tray brought in, he sipped on it. “And in all the years we’ve been together, she’s never once violated that rule.” “I can see that. I was just so startled. One moment I’m standing next to Twilight. The next, I’m in bed with a strange boy. Now that’s not too unusual for me. I had a friend who did that a lot. He was a fox too. You share his name. But what got me was when you got a bit too paws on.” Pearl chuckled a little thinking back on her friend Forestsong. “So I take it you and my counterpart here are sexually intimate? Forgive me asking but I’ve never been into boys. I struggle to imagine any version of me who is. But I guess there’s at least one.” “Oh don’t worry she’s not into boy’s ether.” Kohaku nearly burst into fits of laughter at seeing Pearl’s sudden confused look. “Let me explain. Yes, she’s not physically attracted to boys. But she doesn’t see me as a boy.” “I think I understand that, but you're still male.” Pearl coughed and blushed a little and shook her head. “I’m sorry, really I am. I’m not trying to doubt your word but…” “But you can’t handle the thought let alone the action.” Looking at Pearl who nodded, Kohaku chuckled at her quirked eyebrow. “No, I can’t read your mind. I just know you that well.” “Okay. I really have to ask now. Just how close were you two before officially hooking up?” Pearl leaned back into the sofa, seated up on her haunches as Kohaku continued to lay there elevated by the armrest. Looking up a little, Kohaku smiled. “We were so close that ponies thought we were lovers long before we got together. So close that taking things to the next step was no harder than walking through an open door. And after we did, we found our relationship just didn’t change all that much.” “Only now you two have sex togeather.” Kohaku just nodded slowly. Pearl looked Kohaku over slightly from ears to tails. “I do have to admit, you do have that exotic beauty about you.” Her eyes catching his kimono shorts for a second. “And because of your curves I would almost convince myself your a girl save for that.” Her wing flipped the edge of the blanket over his lap. “Sorry, I’m still learning control and focus. And I’ve gotten a lot better at it as the years go on.” “So what’s the deal with it now?” Pearl smirked at him. “I’m sitting next to an older, hotter, version of my intended mate. Why do you think?” Kohaku smirked back at her. As Pearl scratched her head with that one, Kohaku reached out and grabbed himself a sandwich. After a sniff he took a large bite. “Oh wow. This is delicious.” Pearl looked at him sharply. “You sound surprised.” Finishing the sandwich in a few bites he purred. “I am. My Pearl can’t toast bread without creating a kitchen fire.” “Well Spike had been giving me lessons. And am I that bad in this world?” Pearl chuckled when Kohaku nodded his head. “Well you're better than Sweetie Belle. Until I dated her, I never knew toast could be liquid. Or water could spontaneously combust.” Pearl half snorted before bursting out into laughter, rocking back and forth. “That’s hilarious.” “Yeah. Your Twilight is a very lucky mare. And I’ll be one lucky fox once my Pearl looks like you.” “How…?” Pearl leaned back and blinked at him. “It wasn’t hard to figure out. Even my own Pearl had her fantasies about Twilight. There wasn’t a day that went where I could avoid hearing it at least once.” Sighing Kohaku leaned into Pearl and purred. “That must have driven you crazy.” Pearl smirked. Out of instinct she wrapped a wing around him. As she noticed, Pearl almost pulled it back but thought better of it. With a smile she thought back to Forestsong and the month’s he had a semi mortal body. “Eh, it wasn’t too bad. That’s part of being a best friend is listening to these things.” Feeling the wing around him, Kohaku’s purring increased. “So what else do you have to say about, well, us.” Pearl bit back on her tongue when she saw that look in his eyes. The same look when she had asked Twilight about a new book she had opened. I am so going to regret this. Mom was right. She told me that my tongue was going to get me in trouble one day. Pearl groaned as she rested her head up against the cool tiled wall of Fluttershy’s shower. Steaming hot water cascaded down her mane and over her back. I feel as if my head is about to explode. Five hours, five hours to explain a three year relationship. Leaning back she pushed forward again and bumped her head against the wall only hard enough to feel it. I mean I’ve close relationships with colts, but nothing close to what she had with him. Pearl’s groans suddenly turned to a soft moan of relief when she felt the cool feeling of the shampoo dribble down her spine. The sudden feeling of it slowly being starting worked up and down over her back by a set of paws. Biting down on her lower lip she shivered at how skilled they were. “Oh gods above that feels so good.” “Well I’ve always done good work.” “That’s an understatement, I’ve never before felt anything so…” Pearl’s eyes shot open and stiffened. Looking over her shoulder she saw Kohaku sitting there behind her on a stool. A thin white cotton towel wrapped around his waist. “Ke...yo...wha…” Words stumbled about in her throat as her voice squeaked higher and higher. Spinning around, she looked Kohaku directly in the eyes. She felt herself ready to scream out when a soapy paw gripped her muzzle. “Before you scream I just just have a few things to say. First off I don’t want you to wake up the baby ducks.” One of his tails pointed to the corner, where a small nest of ducklings were sleeping soundly. “Second I just thought I'd come help you out. We don’t have a back washer here.” Kohaku swiftly turned Pearl around with untold ease. How the buck can somecreature so small be so damn strong? I’ve never known anything to make me feel so weak before. Peal’s mind screamed while trying to figure out the sudden situation. “So why don’t you have a back washer here?” “Well we did have one until kaachan used it on Harry a few years ago.” Kohaku chuckled as he worked his paws around Pearl’s wings with careful ease. After pressing a few choice location’s he pulled out several loose and damaged feathers. “But not that me and Pearl used it much anyway. She always had me to wash her back for her. And she always returned the favor by doing my back.” Blinking, she noticed the small pile of broken feathers and looked at Kohaku. When he had removed them, she didn’t feel a thing. While silently cursing him for the audacity for preening her, she had to admit he did better than she or Twilight ever had. Proof that he had done this many times before. And he was keeping his paws in acceptable areas. “I can understand that. But you and me, we don’t have those years of friendship that would allow me to accept this. Could you let me finish my shower alone?” “Yeah I thought you’d probably ask that. I just miss my Pearl so much right now. I know you aren't her, but I hoped that we could at least share a similar friendship that she and I shared prior to becoming a couple.” Kohaku slipped from the stool and grabbed the wash bucket with a tail. “Even back then I was rather respectful of her boundaries, no matter how far I pushed them. I’ll just go dry off and get ready for bed.” Pearl slumped down as if she had been punched in the stomach, lamenting how far she was from Twilight. Watching Kohaku saunter out with his head held low the feeling in her stomach worsened. As her pride and feelings battled things out. “Wait,” Pearl grumbled as she leaned her head against the tiles before finally letting out a sigh. “No sense in wasting the water. You can finish washing my back, then I’ll do yours.” Pearl heard a soft chuckle escape from his lips. It wasn’t long before she felt his paws against her back once more. Pearl laid there on her back in the center of the bed. Staring up at the night sky. The breeze ruffled her mane, it was cool and refreshing while the warmth of the room didn’t diminish at all. I wish I knew how this spell worked, I know ponies who would pay through the nose for something like this. Rubbing her leg along Kohaku’s plush fur lined blanket she sank her head further in the down filled silk pillows. She was far too scared to ask if he had killed for these furs or the down for the pillows. And these pillows, and blankets. Not even Twilight has such luxury stuff like this. And to think my counterpart sleeps on a bed twice the size and ten times the comfort as I do. Closing her eyes she ran through her day yet again in her mind. Everything Kohaku had told her, how similar her life was compared with his Pearl. Rolling onto her side she looked at one of the various shelves that lined the wall, this one housing countless pictures. She recognized one picture in particular. Her running and laughing. Twilight in the background rolling her eyes. Pearl saw her hoof poised up and holding what looked to be a bag of cotton candy. Playing keep away. I remember that day. Gods did I have fun at that carnival in the Crystal Empire. Me, Twilight and my three closest friends. As she looked at the picture, she saw Herself and Twilight and Cozy. But replacing Lotus was Kohaku. The two young fillies playing keep away with his snack. She almost laughed at seeing his annoyed face but his eyes stopped her. Even in the picture, Pearl could tell she was enjoying herself. I wish Twilight were here with me, it’s so hard to fall asleep without her wings about my body. Pearl pushed her face into the silk pillow. Seconds passed before she felt as if somepony had struck her with a wing upside the head. “Oh buck.” Grumbling Pearl got up from the bed and trotted downstairs. Seeing the lump on the sofa she shook her head and sighed. Moving in closer she stopped as she started to reach out with a hoof. “Can’t sleep either huh?” Kohaku rolled over and looked up at Pearl who almost jumped backwards. “I thought you were sleeping.” “Nope, just playing possum,” he chuckled and sat up. “Well you're very good at it. It startled me.” Pearl chuckled and sat down. “Well, I was trained to be a hunter from a young age. You're either quiet, or you don’t eat.” Smirking, he just saw Pearl shake her head. “Okay so what brings you down here?” “I just finally understand how difficult this must be for you. I was upstairs wishing I had my Twilight with her wings about me. And here for weeks you were without your Pearl.” “Don’t forget the two weeks you spent unconscious in bed.” “I haven’t. For me it’s only been a day, how are you coping with all this? It has to be driving you crazy.” Pearl hung her head low, unable to meet his gaze. Bowing his head he leaned forward. “How do I cope? Let's just say I’ve gone on a lot of hunting trips lately. My hunting fridge is packed full.” Looking over his shoulder at a black box in the corner, completely ignoring Pearl’s sudden shudder. “No doubt till I get her back…” “You’ll be going out to kill something?” Pearl leaned back as he just shook his head. “Not really, I don’t always kill my prey.” Pearl let out a sigh of relief. “But hunting does keep my mind off certain things.” “Something tells me I can relate, I’m so frustrated I could punch something.” Pearl stomped her front hoof down on the soft wooden floor. “And how does that differ from any other time?” Kohaku smirked. Blinking, Pearl half snorted. “Let me guess I’m still just as hot headed here as I am in my world.” “Just about. Seriously though, the only thing separating you from her. Is four or five years.” “Well, then you have something to look forward to.” Both Pearl and Kohaku nodded together. “Look. I understand how hard everything is here for you right now. I’m sure only you and Twilight know I’m not the right Pearl.” “I’m sure by now Sunset knows, and possibly your parents. But other than that, yeah that’s about right.” “Well let's not ruin anyone’s year. We can let them think I'm still their Pearl for now. Just a bit more grown up. I’m sure you can explain things if we get things settled right.” Taking a deep breath she just kept her eye steady with his. “I know you're leading up to something, so to spare you another half hour. Mind speaking up.” Kohaku idly started to fidget with one of his three tail tips. “Just like my Pearl, you take a while before getting to the point.” “So it’s a character flaw, deal with it.” Pearl huffed as she watched him smile. “Look, if you can keep your paws above the waist. I see no reason you can’t sleep in the same bed as me. And it would keep from having to explain why you're sleeping on a sofa.” Chuckling, Kohaku just shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time. Pearl does kick me out of bed occasionally when she’s upset. Or, I choose to come down here when a certain time of the year comes around and she’s not awake yet.” “Am I that bad during estrus?” Kohaku just shook his head. “No, my first experience with estrus was with Sweetie Belle. Which resulted in me creating a six hour long illusion to keep her from mauling me. And devouring every last bit of food in Rarity’s home that day. When that time comes along, I make myself disappear for a few days.” Laughing Pearl just shook her head. “I guess I can understand that. I get kinda violent during that time.” Following Kohaku up the stairs she almost tripped when he stopped. “That’s nothing, be thankful you’ll never experience me during mating season.” With a smile and no further information Kohaku just went up to his bed leaving Pearl standing there perplexed. “Oh boy. I wonder what Twilight is doing right now?” Shaking her head Pearl swallowed what remained of her pride, and finished climbing the stairs.